


as far as fate goes

by suneye



Series: shadowhunters wlw bingo 2019 [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Cats, F/F, Fluff, Neighbours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-14 00:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20182999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suneye/pseuds/suneye
Summary: “I can’t believe I’ve lived a couple doors down from you for over a year and never knew you were a nurse. Or your first name, for that matter.”“I bet it was fate: so our cats would only meet and fall in love when they were ready.”





	as far as fate goes

**Author's Note:**

> finally I'm back with another bingo entry for team orange! this time for the "our cats fell in love while being outside what do we do now?" square; 
> 
> (the rating is just for mild language and a line that could, potentially, be interpreted as possibly sexual....just thought i'd be on the safe side lol)

As if this day wasn’t already bad enough with the exhausting shift and the late bus and someone eating her lunch from the break room  _ again _ , now Catarina’s starting to think her cat’s run away.

She wouldn’t blame the poor thing. With all the chaos going on lately and all the playdates they’ve had to host, Cat herself would do virtually anything for a moment of peace and quiet, too.

Just as Cat’s about to go turn the backyard upside down in her search, the doorbell rings. She goes quickly to answer it, hoping it’s Raphael coming back to tell her he accidentally kidnapped her cat when he dropped Madzie off from school earlier.

It’s not Raphael.

“Hi,” the neighbour Catarina vaguely recognizes greets. “I believe this belongs to you?”

In her arms sits an orange ball of fluff and bad attitude, better known as-

“Magnus!” Cat exclaims, scooping him into her arms. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

The neighbour (Catarina racks her brain trying to remember her name, but all she can muster up is “pretty lady three houses down across the street”) cocks her head to the side amusedly. “Magnus? Fancy name for a kitty.”

“Yeah, my daughter named her after her uncle,” cat explains. “So now he’s Magnus and my brother’s Human Magnus.”

Pretty Neighbour laughs. “Oh, I bet he loves that.”

“Are you kidding? It’s an honour to share a name with this evil little bastard,” Cat quips, making faux annoyed expressions at Magnus. She looks back up at Pretty Neighbour and smiles. “I can’t thank you enough for bringing him home.”

As Pretty Neighbour tries to convince her that it was no problem, really, even in the dead of night, Cat glances down and notices, for the first time, a second adorable little ball of fluff. This time a black cat twisting itself around Pretty Neighbour’s ankles but with its piercing golden eyes on Catarina - and Magnus.

Pretty Neighbour catches her looking and leans down to pick up the other cat. “Oh, right, this is Salem,” she says. “And, yes, she’s named after the one from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. No regrets. She’s also grown pretty attached to Cat Magnus, to be honest with you.”

“He’s just Magnus,” Cat says, and to Magnus she adds, “How many times have I told you not to go stringing random girls long, huh?”

Pretty Neighbour laughs again. “I’m pretty sure Salem seduced  _ him _ , actually. She can be  _ very  _ charming.”

With Pretty Neighbour’s eyes narrowed and her voice suddenly lowering on “very”, Cat can’t help but look her up and down. “I’m sure,” she says. “Would you like to come in for a cup of tea? The place is a mess - I’ve got a five-year-old - but I’d love to actually get to know one of my neighbours. Especially now that you’ve saved my entire life by finding my cat.”

Pretty Neighbour hesitates for a second out of politeness, then nods. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Cat steps aside to let her in. “I’m Catarina, by the way. Friends call me Cat.”

“Dorothea,” Pretty Neighbour says as she steps inside, maneuvering Salem in her arms to offer Cat her hand. “Friends call me Dot.”

Cat shakes her hand before closing the door behind them and leading Dot to the kitchen. They put the cats down and let them play around the living room while Catarina pours herself and Dot a cup.

“So,” Cat says conversationally when they sit down at the kitchen table across from each other. “What do you do?”

“I’m an elementary school teacher,” Dot says. “Maybe I’ll get your daughter in my class in a couple years. How about you? What do you do?”

“Stress, mostly,” Cat admits. “But professionally, I’m a nurse.”

“That’s really cool,” Dot says. “I can’t believe I’ve lived a couple doors down from you for over a year and never knew you were a nurse. Or your first name, for that matter.”

“I bet it was fate,” Cat teases. “So our cats would only meet and fall in love when they were ready.”

Dot laughs, her eyes drifting to Salem and Magnus (well, okay, admittedly, Cat has to call him Mags in her head, because all jokes aside, Human Magnus has thirty years on Cat Magnus, so he gets dibs on the name) cuddling under the dining table. Salem gently licks at Mags’ cheek and Mags purrs, cuddling closer to her.

“Um,” Dot starts awkwardly. “Can cats…actually fall in love?”

Cat doesn’t know. She could Google it - her phone is right there on the table - but she decides not to. Whatever the cat definition of love is, those two clearly feel it.

“Ah, crap,” she mutters under her breath. “He’s really clingy. Salem might as well move in right now.”

“However clingy Magnus is, I’ll bet you anything Salem’s ten times clingier. She literally followed me here, remember?”

Cat gives her an amused look. “It’s not a competition,” she wants to say. But isn’t it?

“Well, either way, it looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other,” she says instead.

The smile Dot gets on her face is bright and sudden and catches Cat off-guard, and she tries to hide it behind her teacup. “There are worse things in the world,” she says.

Cat imagines, for a moment, a future where she  _ does  _ see a lot more of Pretty Neighbour and her clingy cat - a future where they talk every day and wave to each other at the grocery store and mention each other to their families more often than they do other neighbours.

Her mind strays to less plausible - but certainly more exciting - situations. Drinking coffee together at the park. Taking Madzie to the movies. Going to the movies  _ without  _ Madzie. Walking home together. Dot spending the night.

There certainly  _ are _ worse things in the world.

“Well, in that case,” Cat says, “Maybe I should give you my number. You know, in case Magnus runs away to see his lady love again.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Dot says, no longer trying to hide her smile - or her blush, for that matter.

“Plenty more where that came from,” Cat says, and returns the smile.


End file.
